The International Joint Commission (IJC) and Lake of the Woods made it into Canada's Budget 2016, released March 22. Subject to the budget being passed by Parliament, Canada is committing approximately $5.5 million over four years to the IJC for the Lake of the Woods Basin Water Quality Plan of Study. This funding will allow Canada to participate with the USA in the studies needed to address water quality and ecosystem health problems on Lake of the Woods.
The funding for Lake of the Woods is part of an overall commitment by Canada of approximately $19.5 million to the International Joint Commission for work on four important transboundary basins, including Lake of the Woods, the Upper Great Lakes, Lake Champlain & Richelieu River, and the Souris River.
This is a milestone achievement for Lake of the Woods and for the International Joint Commission! We anticipate that more details will become available in the coming days and after the IJC's Semi-Annual Meeting with the Canadian and American Governments, during the third week of April. For now our reading is that this comittment in the federal budget:
- Reinforces Canada's support for the IJC and its International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board as the binational platform for Canadians and Americans to jointly manage our shared transboundary waters.
- Recognizes Lake of the Woods as important transboundary water deserving of federal and binational attention, just like the Great Lakes and other major basins.
- Paves the way to complete the research needed to develop a sustainability plan for our lake’s future.
Key outcomes of the Lake of the Woods Basin Water Quality Plan of Study will be international strategies for:
- Managing nutrient pollution to combat blue-green algae blooms and toxins.
- Preventing and controlling invasive species.
- Mitigating risks of surface and groundwater contamination.
- Coordinated monitoring to support progress assessment and adaptive management.
A giant thank you to all of you who believed and got behind this. Individuals, stakeholder groups, towns, counties and all levels of government on both sides of the border stepped up. The public came out by the hundreds to voice support for the establishment of an IJC watershed board for Rainy-Lake of the Woods and to urge governments to fund the Plan of Study. Special thanks to the Rt. Honourable John N. Turner for his passionate championing of Lake of the Woods and the role for the IJC on Lake of the Woods.
Governments off all stripes have backed this over the years - recognizing that it was about the lake. We thank all who got the lake to this international stage. We are very gratefull for the efforts of Kenora MP Bob Nault, Natural Resource Minister Jim Carr and Global Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, among others, for supporting the decision by Canada to fund the Lake of the Woods Water Quality Plan of Study through the IJC.
It seemed to so many people to be just the right thing to do— make the future of Lake of the Woods an international priority and put a plan in place to ensure our lake’s future. Governments listened and that is what is now beginning to happen.